“As children around the world continue to spend more time online we are developing new and engaging ways for them to interact with our brand,” said Lisbeth Valther Pallesen, Executive Vice President, Community, Education and Direct Division LEGO Group. “The LEGO brand represents construction, creativity and problem solving – values that compliment the MMOG market. By merging the online world of social interaction with physical play, the LEGO brand is providing new experiences for children, as well as fans. NetDevil’s technological capability, openness to work with a large community, and their enthusiasm for the LEGO brand made them a natural partner.”

Um, ugh. Although it would probably be fun, I believe that people (including me, unfortunately) spend far too much time in front of the computer... and these kinds of games are known to be addictive *cough*WoW*cough*. At least computers and games are interactive, though, unlike TV... which just fries your brain.

Anyway, so... As long as it's free, I'll probably try it out, but I won't allow myself to play more than once in a long while.

After playing World of Warcraft for a year, I swore off all MMORPGs. But this one seems to be for kids, so the learning curve, and time sinks should be suited for that right? This will probably be sorta like Guild Wars you would think.

I don't like these sorts of games, as I've seen many people get too sucked into them and end up doing just them. They become extreamly addicting to many folks and I don't like that LEGO will be associated with such a game.

ottoatm wrote:Actually, this week a Chinese guy actually died because he played one of these games too long without enough food, drink or sleep... 4 days in a row!

I heard about that some time ago, I'm still not convinced the original story isn't a myth

I have seen the face of evil & it is MMOGs - I used to be part of a First Person Shooter gaming clan, when WoW came out it totally devistated our clan, going from 50 active members to under 10 in weeks lol

I would imagine that this, like other MMOGs, will become little more than a glorified chat engine tht you pay a monthly subscription for.

It also seems like a big gamble for LEGO to take considering its new attitude...

smcginnis wrote:I believe that people (including me, unfortunately) spend far too much time in front of the computer.

You can not spend too much time in front of a computer. I'm not kidding. I'm a working toward a digital media major. Spending a lot of time at a computer will be my job.

Ahh...innocence...it brings a smile to my face

There definitely is such a thing as spending too much time in front of a computer, and it is my job. I've had 10, 12 hour days where I've come home so drained of energy I haven't even wanted to build. Horrible, I know.

I'm intrigued to see how NetDevil is going to approach this. Will it be more like Lego Star Wars? Lego Racers? A return to Lego Island? Something completely new?

Edit: I just noticed...something's up with the quote code for your name Nathan. You may want to look into that, cause I totally did not type that

I was thinking this is most likely TLGs best answer for a big problem they are facing - namely, losing young fans (and potential long-term loyal customers) to video games and what-not.

In light of that, I'd have to change my feelings about this idea for LEGO, I'd say it's a very smart answer to rapidly changing times and consumer demands - especially with the "chat" function that is so popular in WoW.

Once people start chatting about the game and LEGO, it could very well draw some of the video game fanatics away from the screen and over to the ABS.

I heard about that some time ago, I'm still not convinced the original story isn't a myth

I think this is a different story that just happened over the Chinese new year... they have a week off over here, and many of them just play video games all week because they are bored.

I'm kind of interested in conjecturing what the game would play like. A game world like WoW except you can build structures out of lego anywhere? Completely customize your own home? Taylor your minifg character to your very whim? Health and addiction issues aside, I find the concept exciting, if that is, such a game could pull off a fair portion of the creative possibilities avilable when playing with the real bricks.

-chuck

"In destinies sad or merry,
True men can but try"
-Sir Gawain and the Green Knight 564-5